In the Shadow of the Steeple

Who is Brother Ronald Giannone, and what drives him to do the things he does?

By Maria Hess

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Brother Ronald Giannone is a man of the cloth. But he gets angry like any other man. And what makes him angriest is a society that celebrates greed while tolerating poverty.

“You can understand it in Calcutta,” Giannone says. “But how in the land of plenty, and in the shadow of DuPont, can we allow even one person to be homeless?”

It’s a question that has haunted Giannone since he arrived in Delaware in 1976, founded The Ministry of Caring a year later, and became Wilmington’s most powerful proponent of social justice. He is a savior to Delaware’s poor, whom he feels privileged to serve.

He includes the poor in a society that excludes them. Thousands of Delawareans suffer untold indignities, and the ministry offers food, shelter and camaraderie to those crippled by loneliness and beaten down by disappointment.

Giannone’s faith is his foundation, but the ministry’s door is open to all who need it, regardless of their religious backgrounds. Most poor people are victims of generational poverty that’s been embedded in society for centuries. There’s no easy fix.

The ministry will probably always be in business. One reason is its wide-reaching offerings. The other reason is Giannone himself.